Conical bearing -box.



No. 794.154. i PATBNTED JULY 11, 1905.` J. D. ALsUP.

GONIGAL BEARING BOX.

APPLIOATION FILED un 2o. 1901.

W Mw l? MQW@ illnirnn 'raras Patented July 11, 1905.

arnnr Orricn.

JEFFERSON D. ALSUI, OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING AXLE COMPANY, `A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CONICAL BEARING-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 794,154, dated July11, 1905.

Application filed May 20, 1901. Serial No. 61,053.

To all whom, t may cm2/cern:

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON D. ALsUr, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Middletown, county of Butler, and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ConicalBearing- Boxes and Similar Articles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to conical bearingboXes and similar articles, andparticularly to bearing-boxes adapted for use in rollerbearings forvehicles of the kind described in Letters Patent issued June 2S, 1898,to Timken and HeinzelmainNos. 606,635 and 606,636. Bearing-boxes of thistype Vary in thickness and are too heavy to shape by the more economicalprocesses commonly used in making lighter articles or articles ofuniform thickness. So, too, when made in a single piece thebearing-surface is liable to be warped or distorted by the process ofcase-hardening.

The principal object of the present invention is to providebearing-boxes capable of beingmade and case-hardened by a simple andeconomical process.

My invention consists principally in making the bearing-box of twoshells of uniform thickness shaped to conform, respectively, to theinner and outer surfaces of the desired boX and filling the spacebetween them when properly assembled with an alloy adapted to braze themtogether into a solid mass.

It also consists in finishing and case-hardening the bearing-surface,all as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, andwherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1is a longitudinal sectional view of two shells shaped and assembledaccording to my invention to constitute a bearing-box. Fig. 2 is asimilar view with the boX finished. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar viewsshowing a modified form of parts.

In the construction shown in Figs. l and 2 the principal member is aconical shell 1 whose inner surface constitutes the bearingsurface ofthe box of the roller-bearing. This conical shell l is formed at the endof a cylindrical sleeve or thimble 2, designed to eX- tend through thehub of the wheel. The conical shell is connected to the sleeve by anoffset or reducing-shoulder 3, and the outer end of the conical shell iscontinued as a cylindrical shell. The thickness of the conical shell issubstantially uniform at all points. A cylindrical shell Il, of evendiameter with the cylindrical extension of the conical shell, has itsouter end flared to conform tothe outer surface of the conical shell I.The inner end of this cylindrical shell 4 is flanged on the inner side,leaving a central opening to allow it to slide over the cylindricalthimble 2, the arrange ment being such that the flaring end bearsagainst the conical shell, while the inner end flange bears against theshoulder or offset of the conical shell. The flange of said cylindricalshell has one or more holes 5 formed therethrough. The cylindrical shellbeing mounted on the conical shell as labove described,tlie parts aredipped into a bath of brass or bronze. The molten alloy thereupon passesthrough the holes in the flange and completely fills the space betweenthe two shells. The device is then removed from the bath and the alloyallowed to cool and harden, whereby the two shells are braYIed together.The inner surface of the conical shell is then finished as abearing-surface, and the projecting edges of the outer shell and otherparts are removed to finish the bearing. The bearing then appears asshown in Fig. 2. The inner bearingsurface is then case-hardened in theordinary manner. By reason of the thickness of the inner shell beinguniform throughout its surface and the combining of a plurality ofmetals or thicknesses, the process of case-hardening causes verylittle,if any,distortion of such surface, and the same can be used as abearingsurface with practically no further finishing. When the boX afterbeing dipped into the alloy is withdrawn, its surface is covered with athin layer of the alloy. This layer is allowed to remain over thereducingshoulder 3, which is liable to be weakened during the process ofcase-hardening, until after the bear* ing-box is case-hardened andconstitutes a protective casing therefor, thereby minimizing the illeffects of the case-hardening process. The principal advantage of thisconstruction is that it admits of a bearing being made by any of theusual economical processes of metal shaping, such as drawing,notwithstanding the fact that its necessary thickness is too great ortoo uneven to be treated by such process in a single piece and that itadmits of case-hardening with negligible distortion.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the axle thimble or shell 2is formed in the same piece with the outer cylindrical shell it, whilethe inner end of the bearing-cone l is flared outwardly to iit saidcylindrical shell. In other respects the constructions are substantiallythe same as well as the process of assembling them.

It is obvious that other changes may be made in the structural design ofthe parts without departing from my invention-as,for instance, makingthe two shells of even length-and I do not wish to limit myself to theparticular design of such parts hereinbefore described.

While my invention is particularly valuable for the manufacture ofvehicle bearingboXes, it is obviously applicable to the manufacture ofother articles, and I do not wish to restrict myself to vehiclebearing-boxes.

What I claim is- 1. A bearing-box comprising an inner shell ofsubstantially uniform thickness having its interior surfacecase-hardened and having a frusto-conical section, a concentric outershell surrounding said frusto-conical section, terminating at leastsubstantially at the larger end thereof, and at least a portion of itsinterior surface conforming to the exterior of said frusto-conicalsurface, and an alloy interposed between said shells and securing themtogether.

2. Abearing-box comprisingaconical shell, and a cylindrical shell, saidcylindrical shell being iiared at one end to conform to the surface ofthe conical shell, and one of said shells having a ange to iuclose thespace between said shells, said space being filled with an alloy adaptedto braze them together, substan-` tially as described.

3. A bearing-box comprising a conical shell having its smaller endreduced and extended, and a cylindrical shell having an inner iiange atone end and fitting over said conical shell, the space between saidshells being filled with an alloy, whereby they are brazed together,substantially as described.

4. An article of uneven thickness comprising a case-hardened shell ofsubstantially uniform thickness and a second shell closely fitting saidcase-hardened shell and secured thereto by a metal fusing at a lowertemperature than the temperature of fusion of said shells, one of saidshells conforming to the inner surface of the article and the other ofsaid shells conforming to the outer surface.

5. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantiallyuniform thickness and an outer concentric shell fitting over said innershell and secured thereto by metal fusing at a lower temperature thanthe temperature of fusion of said shells.

6. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantiallyTuniform thickness case-hardened on its inner surface and an outer shellfitting over said inner shell and secured thereto by an alloy.

7. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantiallyuniform thickness, an outer concentric cylindrical shell fitting oversaid inner shell and a metal filling the space between said shells andbrazing them together, said metal having lower temperature of fusionthan the temperature of fusion of said shells.

Signed in the city of St. Louis this 17 th day of May, 1901.

JEFFERSON D. ALSUP.

